SpaceX
SpaceX rolling out Starship Flight 6 booster to launch pad
SpaceX has started preparations for Starship Flight 6 by bringing the Booster 13 out of the Starship factory in Starbase.
NASAspaceflight has shared visuals of the booster stage making its way to the launch pad. The rollout is likely to be completed by today and prepare for subsequent tests.
In August this year, SpaceX announced Starship 5 flight ready and the company started preparations for the next test. In September, SpaceX conducted the Starship 6 static fire test but we may see it on the launch pad again with new changes.
Static fire is a part of pre-launch tests designed to verify hardware and on-ground support before a real flight. These help the rocket maker to identify issues and patch them. We may also see Booster’s static fire within a few days.
A week ago, SpaceX launched Starship Flight 5 and completed a Booster catch with launch tower arms. This is the first time, Starship flight attempted this objective and completed it successfully.
On the other hand, the second stage marked a successful reentry and endured the heat with new heat shield tiles. Flight 6 is likely to focus on polishing these achievements and we may see it sooner than Flight 5 or any of the previous tests.
Super Heavy Booster 13 has rolled out of Megabay 1 this morning to head to the launch complex for testing ahead of upcoming Starship test flight 6.
10/22/24 pic.twitter.com/Iwe0kxfTSk
— Starship Gazer (@StarshipGazer) October 22, 2024
